Heard at EDUCAUSE: 23 Quotes from Higher IT Leaders
It's safe to say that IT leaders are excited about the future of higher education, as EDUCAUSE 2013 was a hub for discussion and collaboration surrounding technological advancements in the classroom. IT departments still have numerous questions to answer concerning policy, privacy and security in the coming years, but leaders are eager to prepare for the challenges. The growth of mobile devices in the classroom, the cloud and MOOCs are just a few of the topics expected to remain pertinent in the near future.
Below are 23 of the most interesting quotes we heard at EDUCAUSE’s annual conference on technology and higher education.
EDUCAUSE 2013: Learning 2.0
“More recently we’ve really been pushing the online learning for Stanford students whether it’s through a flipped class [or] a blended class.”
- Amy Collier, Stanford University, Director for Digital Learning Initiatives
“[MOOCs] have raised the visibility of online learning on our campus and I think on a lot of campuses.”
- Amy Collier, Stanford University, Director for Digital Learning Initiatives
“I think MOOCs have been, if disruptive, disruptive because they’ve increased the number of conversations we’ve had about things like life course learning, online learning and teaching in general.”
- Amy Collier, Stanford University, Director for Digital Learning Initiatives
“What is different about online learning is helping students build an affinity for the university online versus what you would have naturally if you were on campus.”
- Cameron Evans, Microsoft Education, CTO
EDUCAUSE 2013: If Money Were No Object…
"I might just attach a broadband connection to every person and then be done with the capacity issues.”
- Susan Malisch, Loyola University Chicago, Vice President and CIO
“I would want a full-blown professional team to come in and outfit us with a virtual desktop infrastructure and it be absolutely plug and play.”
- Paige Francis, Fairfield University, CIO
“I’m keenly interested in the evolution of surfaces themselves in our academic learning spaces.”
- Brad Wheeler Ph.D., Indiana University, Vice President for IT and CIO
EDUCAUSE 2013: Cloud Control
“People think when you move something to the cloud that all of a sudden you don’t have to be concerned about it and that’s a fallacy.”
- Sean P. Connolly, The George Washington University, Director of IT, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
“The biggest thing that migration of the cloud does is allow us to focus on the mission of the university.”
- Mark Hoit, North Carolina State University, Vice Chancellor for IT an CIO
“When I talk to people they ask what my mission is and my missions are to graduate students, educate students, help faculty achieve their success. It’s not about servers or bandwidth.”
- Mark Hoit, North Carolina State University, Vice Chancellor for IT an CIO
“The IT department is now shifting to become a support and integrated part of the university to help handle those true functions of what the university’s mission is.”
- Mark Hoit, North Carolina State University, Vice Chancellor for IT an CIO
“It’s the network that gets you to the cloud and that’s what IT provides.”
- Kirk Moore, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Director of Computing Services
“If you just wholesale go out into that sort of environment and you have a problem and you don’t have a plan B or an escape route then you’re going to find yourself in real trouble.”
- Kirk Moore, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Director of Computing Services
EDUCAUSE 2013: The Boons and Banes of the Mobility Age
“Building a wireless network is a process not an event.”
- Kathy Lang, Marquette University, CIO
“How do we do a good job of protecting institutional data but allowing the access?”
- Susan Malisch, Loyola University Chicago, Vice President and CIO
“We’ll work with a faculty member to make them successful with what they want to use in their space.”
- Sean P. Connolly, The George Washington University, Director of IT, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
“While people are seeing [that] they want to be mobile in more places, they also want to be productive in the places that they’re mobile. And right now there are very few choices that allow you to do both at the same time wherever you are.”
- Cameron Evans, Microsoft Education, CTO
EDUCAUSE 2013: Security SOPs for the Cyber Era
“The best way to mitigate risk is know what your weak spots are and address those.”
- Paige Francis, Fairfield University, CIO
“Institutions really need to pay attention to [cyber risk] and need to invest in chief information security officers and the tools that they need to apply their trade.”
- Brian D. Voss, University of Maryland, Vice President of IT and CIO
“We have a whole new range of things to learn about and get the policy right [on, like] protecting institutional risk and protecting our faculty, staff and students with this new domain of wearables.”
- Brad Wheeler Ph.D., Indiana University, Vice President for IT and CIO
If I Knew Then What I Know Now…
“Probably would have gone to the wireless sooner and made more ubiquitous wireless.”
- Kathy Lang, Marquette University, CIO
“Definitely would have jumped on the mobile bandwagon a lot faster, started figuring out the mobile apps quicker and [would have tried] to get that into the students hands.”
- Kirk Moore, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Director of Computing Services
“Bring in folks at a very young age, develop their talent and stay focused on making them successful.”
- Sean P. Connolly, The George Washington University, Director of IT, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
